NEW STUDY ALERT! The Prayer That Changes Everything

So, we have started a new series that is based on the book "The Prayer that Changes Everything: The Hidden Power of Praising God" by Stormie Omartain. I am TOTALLY, TOTALLY pumped about this to say the least. This is going to revolutionize our prayer lives from one where we feel impotent or at least inadequate, to clear, focused and energized prayer warriors. There is a worksheet that goes with this study that is fill in the blanks. I have included a link to that PDF below.

I listened to the podcast and discovered that it is hard to tell when I am reading through passages in the book and when it is me talking at certain points. If you don’t have the book yet and you are listening online, it might be a bit confusing, but I will work on making my audio cues more clear. I am just not skilled at making my presentation good for those who can only hear and not see me flipping back and forth between my notes and the book.

Lastly, but certainly not least, despite the fact that I had only 2 ½ pages of notes rather than my usual 8 or 9, this podcast is longer than the others. There was some great discussion and you get to hear more from my bestest lady pals. However, It does seem to take a bit for all of us to get really warmed up. If you are tempted to zone out and give up for the first ½ of it or so, resist and keep listening. Once we get warmed up we start to get more pumped up about the study.

So, yeah! We have several new ladies joining us for this study including Wendy, Kristian, and Anne. Welcome, ladies! We are SUPER stoked to have you!

Also, please be praying for one of our members tomorrow, Cassie Ruredzo. Her family has a seriously big day and they need a touch, or rather a tsunami of the Lord’s spirit to wash over them.

PODCAST - Introduction to "The Prayer That Changes Everything" - CLICK HERE

INTRODUCTION WORKSHEET - Click Here

Pride & Taking Control - CONCLUSION 199 VERSES STUDY

This is potentially our last week with this study. I put it out there that I am willing to do another week on anxiety/worry if anyone is chomping at the bit to see me single this one out, but like I say in the podcast, this is not a heart issue. Anxiety is an issue that manifests from not believing that God is sufficient in some area of your life such as finances, acceptance, redemption etc. Take care of that heart issue, whatever it may be, and watch your anxiety melt away like the snow and ice that held our city captive last week. . . Liberating stuff.

Let me know if you are interested in me singling anxiety/worry out, otherwise we will move on to the next study. I am trying to decide between walking through my favorite book, Corrie Ten Boom’s “The Hiding Place” to focus on a what a life of faith looks like, and Stormie Omartian’s book “The Prayer that Changes Everything: The Hidden Power of Praising God”, which would be a look at how to blow open the doors of your prayer life by praying through the Word. Let me know which one sounds more appealing to you, and I will weigh your thoughts heavily into my decision.

It's also time we deal with the issue of the future of the podcasts. Do we keep doing it? Is anyone still interested in going on with us, or was that just something we did for the “Liberation” study? I need to hear from the listeners about their desires for the future.

Lastly I could not find the worship song from the study online to post on the blog, so I won’t have one for this week. It was a song with an unknown name from the group "According to John". Thank you so much, Kristen, for sharing it with us. It was a blessing!!


Pride & Control in Guilt Onion

Pride & Control in Withholding Forgiveness Onion

Pride & Control in Accepting Forgiveness Onion

Pride and Control in Seeking Guidance Onion

Pride & Control in Our Provisions Onion

Pride & Control in Our Search for Acceptance Onion

Week 6 Podcast on Pride and Taking Control- Click Here

God's Sufficiency In Our Need for Acceptance

Here's the "How To's" of making God's acceptance of you so real and sufficient to you that even if the whole world turns its back on you tomorrow, you. Are. Satisfied.

I state in the podcast that I think we will have two more weeks of this study before we move on to the next one. Next week will be on pride and the week after will be our conclusion in which we go back through all of the onions and see how the issues at the heart of our onions drives us to feel like we need to take control of everything in our lives. Let me know if you have any suggestions for the next study and I will mull everything over in my usual fashion. I look forward to hearing from you.

Week 5 Podcast on God Sufficiency in our need for Acceptance- Click Here

Acceptance/Rejection Onion

How He Loves Us - Jesus Culture/Kim Walker

Homeword for Week 5 - Acceptance

Next Monday we are going to do our study on God's sufficiency in our need
for acceptance. This one is huge. HUGE. We all suffer from this onion in
various ways. Here is what you can be working on over the next week and be
prepared to discuss on Monday night. Even if you don't write out your
answers, at least read through the questions and verses and reflect on them.
This is not a test to see if you know how you should answer these questions,
it is a personal assessment of what your life is like now.

1. In what ways do I feel rejected and or ostracized?

2. How much time do I spend each day feeling like I don't fit in or
those around me dislike me or aren't concerned with me?

3. How much of my life is dominated by insecurity?

4. What is my reaction when I feel rejected or ostracized?

5. What am I compelled to do to seek validation and acceptance?

6. Do I believe that God's love and acceptance is enough, even if I am
rejected by those around me? Why or why not?

I am going to include a list of scripture verses to reflect on. Find some of
your own if you like as well. Record (or at least be cognizant of) your
thoughts and feelings, both doubtful and liberating. Try to fill out an
onion. Come prepared to share. Feel free to add to these scriptures and
share.

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great
delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you
with singing" (Zephaniah 3:17).

1 John 3:1
See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be
called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not
know us, because it did not know Him.

EPHESIANS 3:16-21 - I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen
you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may
dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and
established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp
how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this
love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all
the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all
we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him
be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for
ever and ever! Amen

The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an
everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness" (Jeremiah 31:3).

Isaiah 41:9-10 9 I took you from the ends of the earth,
from its farthest corners I called you.
I said, 'You are my servant';
I have chosen you and have not rejected you.
10 So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

I Corinthians 4:8&9: We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down,
but not destroyed.

Jeremiah 29:11-14: For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD,
"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a
future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen
to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your
heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD

Heb. 13:4b-6: because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I
forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not
be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?"

His Sufficiency To Provide For Our Every Need

The podcast for the week is posted. We had an amazing time of discussion last night! I hope those of you who were worried about the homework this time take the time to listen to this podcast so you can be inspired. The ladies who did it were super pumped about it and had lots of compelling things to share about their time turning to the Lord through the Word to combat their doubts about God’s sufficiency to provide for their material needs. Cool stuff.

Stephen will be in town next Monday night, and since that is rare these days, I am going to stay home and enjoy the night with him. I am sure there will be ladies who will want to meet up at Starbucks. You can organize it at the group site if you want to do that.

Below is Emily Kulas’ song for this week “His Eyes” for your listening pleasure, but once again I edited that part out of my podcast.

Have an awesome Christmas!

Week 4 Podcast on Trusting God for Material Provision- Click Here

Material Provision Onion

"His Eyes" by Steven Curtis Chapman

Trusting God for Material Provisions

The more I meditate on the next Bible study (Monday the 20th) the more I am certain it should be less of me yapping and more of you applying. I think we can all acknowledge that we lack faith in God’s sufficiency in some way. We might say it with our mouths that He is sufficient because that is the good godly thing to say, but we don’t believe it with our hearts in many cases which means we don’t live it out with our actions either. Deep down we believe He lacks sufficiency in our needs for justice, forgiveness, guidance, acceptance, a sense of our self worth, provisions, and so forth.

Now without needing to spoon feed you, we are learning, at least in theory, how to find true liberation from these bondages. Our next study is going to be on God’s sufficiency in our need for material provisions. This time I want YOU to come in on the 20th with my work done for me. Those of you online can message me with your answers. I would love to read your answers to the group. I can read it anonymously if you so chose, but let’s hear from you.

Here’s your challenge:

1. Go through the 199 verses book and/or the Bible and find verses about God’s sufficiency for all of your material needs. Maybe it would also be good to find out what God’s idea of “needs” is.
2. What lies are you fed and/or believing to the contrary of those verses you have found? Any doubts you have while you are reading your scriptures, record. Let yourself mediate on what life would be like without those doubts. This does not have to be a dissertation. It can be chicken scratch on a post it note. Just write it out.
3. Fill out an onion diagram for yourself. I have posted one you can print on the blog that should get the ball rolling.
4. YOU CAN DO THIS!!! Let me know if you have any questions. I am happily here to help.

Provision Onion

I am praying for you!!

Rochelle

Trusting God for Guidance

Yay! I hope and pray this week is as good for you as it has been for me. I am realizing my style is to make extreme-ish sounding statements up front to get your attention and then break it down in a way that is easier to digest. I say that because this lesson needs to be listened to in its entirety to really get a picture of what God was showing me. If you quit before I get to the Mother Teresa quote, you are missing out on a big blessing from a little ol' lady who changed the world with her love for Jesus.

So, How. On Earth. Does God guide us and what does that look like in my life from day-to-day? Hopefully you are about to find out in a way that is truely liberating.

You will hear Nichole introduce a worship song that God has been using in her life. I edited out the actual song she played and posted it below so you can hear it in MUCH better quality. It jumps from Nichole saying that this song is great to listen to around Christmas time, to my short commentary on the relevance of the song she selected.

Also, there are a few confusing spots in the recording where I refer to "this". Visualize me holding up the fruit of the Spirit card. You can click on the link below and see it for yourself.

Here are my future onion ideas. Acceptance, Provision, Worry/Anxiety, Control. If you have any other ideas for issues you would like me to address, then let me know. I don't think Control will be it's own onion. I think that is the reaction that comes from several onions. However, since so many people struggle with it, I am meditating on how to best single it out and address it.

Lastly, we will not be doing an official bible study next week. Those of us who live in town will be meeting at Starbucks on Chastain at 8:30. We will be picking back up on the 20th.

I would like to introduce the listening audience to our faithful little recording device we have affectionately named, Barry, in order to help us ease any discomfort it brings us to have "him" in the room. We think he looks like he has an afro.

Week 3 Podcast on Trusting God for Guidance- Click Here

Guidance Onion

Fruit Of The Spirit Reminder Card

Matthew West's "My Own Little World"